RFC 2360 (rfc2360) - Page 2 of 20
Guide for Internet Standards Writers
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 2360 Guide for Internet Standards Writers June 1998
2.18 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3 Specific Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.1 Packet Diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.2 Summary Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.3 State Machine Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4 Document Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
5 Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
7 Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
8 Editor's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
9 Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
10 Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
1 Introduction
This document is a guide for Internet standard writers. It offers
guidelines on how to write a standards-track document with clarity,
precision, and completeness. These guidelines are based on both
prior successful and unsuccessful IETF specification experiences.
These guidelines are to be used with RFC 2223, "Instructions to RFC
Authors", or its update. Note that some guidelines may not apply in
certain situations.
The goal is to increase the possibility that multiple implementations
of a protocol will interoperate. Writing specifications to these
guidelines will not guarantee interoperability. However, a
recognized barrier to the creation of interoperable protocol
implementations is unclear specifications.
Many will benefit from having well-written protocol specifications.
Implementers will have a better chance to conform to the protocol
specification. Protocol testers can use the specification to derive
unambiguous testable statements. Purchasers and users of the
protocol will have a better understanding of its capabilities.
For further information on the process for standardizing protocols
and procedures please refer to BCP 9/RFC 2026, "The Internet
Standards Process -- Revision 3". In addition, some considerations
for protocol design are given in RFC 1958, "Architectural Principles
of the Internet".
2 General Guidelines
It is important that multiple readers and implementers of a standard
have the same understanding of a document. To this end, information
should be orderly and detailed. The following are general guidelines
intended to help in the production of such a document. The IESG may
require that all or some of the following sections appear in a
Scott Best Current Practice